A Brief History Of The Incas:

From Rise, Through Reign, To Ruin

Brien Foerster

Copyright Brien Foerster 2011

Dedication

This book is lovingly dedicated to Marjorie “Tippy” Fuchs, who alongwith her husband Dick were great supporters of my artistic endeavorsfor decades. Tippy died during the writing of this story, and she was agreat supporter and benefactor of Native people and their culturewherever she traveled.I also want to thank my Mother, Ann, for her enduring love andsupport in everything that I have ever done or thought, Jim Gilbert,my surrogate uncle who fanned the embers of my early love of Nativeart, my father Darryl for his impeccable intellect and “old world”gentry qualities, and my blessed Irene for her amazing naturalintelligence, warm heart, and wonderful infectious laughter. Andfinally, to the Inca themselves, whose true wisdom and wondrousaccomplishments will not only withstand the tests of time, but willshine as beacons to future generations of how special humanity is as acreation of the divine source, the Sun beyond the sun. The main purpose of this book is to give an overview, concise yetthorough, of the origin of the Inca Civilization, its achievements andsplendour, and the reasons why it was overtaken and destroyed by arelatively small group of Spanish soldiers of fortune. The majority ofearly written accounts of the history and culture of the Inca have beenpenned by people of European ( mainly Spanish ) origin, and PeruvianNative and/or Mestizo ( mixed blood ) who were heavily influenced,

one might even say corrupted and censored, by the Spanishestablishment; both church and state. As the old saying goes, ‘ historyis written by the winners.’Since the Inca had no written form of history, most of the informationin his book has been gleaned from the so-called winners’ perspective.However, some of the oral traditions have been written down, andhave been included as much as possible. And as I have accessed manydifferent sources, I feel that by piecing together this historical puzzle,with hopefully an unbiased approach ( you may differ ) a somewhatbalanced account may be possible to display. I am neither of Peruviannor Spanish descent, I have no reason to slant this story one way orthe other; I want to know and offer you the truth, as close as I cancome to it.

ORIGINS The most common stories relating to the source of the Incas, wherethey came from, are that they originally lived around or near LakeTiticaca, geographically located approximately 150 miles south-west ofCuzco. Oral traditions are often very poetic in nature, and many ofthe traditional Incan accounts say that Manco Capac, and his bloodsister Mama Ocllo Huaco, who were Children of the Sun God Inti,“rose” from the waters of Lake Titicaca, and were instructed by theircelestial father to bring order back to what had become a chaoticworld. These two were not only brother and sister, but also husbandand wife. Manco was instructed to teach the people the arts ofagriculture, and Mama Ocllo the arts of weaving and spinning. To saythat they “rose” from Lake Titicaca is probably a poetic way of sayingthat they came from that area, their culture rising akin to arenaissance.In terms of archaeological evidence of an advanced civilizationexisting at or near Lake Titicaca before the time of the Inca, one onlyhas to visit the massive sacred ceremonial center of Tiahuanaco ( orTiwanaku ), located approximately 13 miles from the eastern shore of

Titicaca. In terms of stone architectural technology, it easily rivals, ifnot surpasses, that of the Incas.The age of this site is widely and hotly debated; most commonly,however, it is believed that the Tiahunacan culture rose around 600BC, and fell into decline sometime soon after 1000 AD. A much moreexplosive yet compelling theory is that of Arthur Posnansky, aGerman-Bolivian scholar, who dated the site at 15,000 BC. His theory,based on 50 years of study, uses the science of archaeo-astronomy tocompare the alignment of the solstices present day, as compared to thepast.

View of the main temple complex of Tiwanaku, with a Viracocha sculpture in the central background.

Sculpture of Viracocha at Tiwanaku, near the famous Gateway Of The Sun.

By most accounts, the first Inca arrived in Cusco about 1100 AD, so,in terms of chronological time, Tiahuanaco makes sense as the site oforigin of the Inca. It has also been written by many authors that theleaders at Tiahuanaco were priest kings, who were driven out of theirhomeland by the Huari, a more war-like and barbaric people, about1000 AD. It is also known that the soil of Tiahuanaco was or hadbecome, by this time, very infertile, and thus was incapable of growingcrops of any great quality or quantity. This was, in part, due to anextreme El Nino, that caused the area around Tiwanaku to experiencea 40 year drought.Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo carried with them a golden wedge orstaff called Sunturpaucar, a cage with a sun-bird who could give goodadvice, and other sacred objects. They were instructed by their fatherInti to test the land’s fertility as they traveled, for cultivation. Wherethe golden staff entered the soil easily was the place where they shouldlive.

A VERY stylized painting of Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo rising from the waters of Lake Titicaca.

When they reached the Sacred Valley, or, more specifically the site ofthe present day Coricancha in Cusco, Manco Capac plunged

Sunturpaucar into the soil, where it not only entered the soil easily,but completely disappeared below the surface. Thus, the founding of anew city, and center of a new culture, had begun. From a purelypractical standpoint, the Sacred Valley would have been chosen due toits relatively close proximity to their ancestral lands, and the fact thatit has flat, highly arable soil, nurtured by an major river, theUrubamba, fed by glacial waters from the Andes.Of course, Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo did not travel alone. Oraltraditions speak of their having been 4 pairs of brothers and sisters,all related, who started the journey from Titicaca together, but theother three pairs, for various reasons, did not complete the journey. They were collectively called the Ayar brothers and sisters. The foursets of brother-sister/wife-husband probably relate to four clans ofpeople.Whether the other three sets of brother-sisters were killed, or becamesubordinate to Manco and Ocllo is uncertain. What is known is thatManco became the first supreme or Sapa Inca; the father of the Incacivilization.

The Sacred Valley outside of Cuzco, photographed from the highway winding down to the valley floor.

Salkantay, one of the Apus, or guardian mountains near the Sacred Valley. The names and timelines of the Sapa Inca are as follows: Hurin Dynasty:

Manco Capac 1200-1230Sinchi Roca 1230-1260LloqueYupanqui 1260-1290Mayta Capac 1290-1320Capac Yupanqui 1320-1350 Hanan Dynasty: Inca Roca 1350-1380Yahuar Huacac 1380-1410Viracocha 1410-1438Pachacutec 1438 – 1471Tupac Inca Yupanqui 1471 – 1493Huayna Capac 1493 – 1527Ninan Cuyochi 1527Huascar 1527 – 1532Atahualpa 1532 – 1533

This painting, like all those in post-Inca times, is speculative of the facial features of the Sapa Inca. Three major tribes lived in the Cusco valley area when Manco Capacand Mama Ocllo arrived. They were the Sawasiray, the Allkawisasand the Maras, who had formed an alliance that the Inca joined. Thepolitical power of this confederated state was divided between twogroups: the Hanan, which controlled most of the political and religiouspower, and the Hurin, which was in charge of the military. At this

time, the Inca were put in charge of the Hurin aspect of theconfederation, but maintained their adherance to their God Inti.During the 14th century, the leaders Sinchi Roca, Lloki Yupanqui,Mayta Capa, and Capac Yupanqui led several wars againstneighbouring tribes of Cusco. By the time that Capac Yupanqui died,Inca Roca had gained enough power to become Hanan, and thuscontrolled all aspects of political, religious, and military affairs. AfterInca Roca’s death, the Inca state began to decline under the rule ofYahuar Huacac. However, the next Sapa Inca, Viracocha, stabilizedthe state, which now reached a 50 km radius from Cusco. At this timethe Chanka tribe had expanded its territories south of Cusco, andalong with an alliance of other southern tribes, made a move to attackCusco.The Chanka army greatly outnumbered that of the Inca, and as thebattle started, the Chanka placed a statue of their founder in front oftheir troops. During the battle, the Inca took control of the statue, andperhaps seeing this as a terrible omen, the Chanka deserted thebattlefield. The next Sapa Inca, Pachacutec, whose name roughlytranslates as “ earth shaker “ began the great expansion period of theconfederation. During his reign, he and his son, Tupac Inca Yupanquibrought much of the Andes mountains, under Inca control.

Stylized painting of the Sapa Inca Pachacutec.

Pachacutec was the founder of the Tahuantinsuyu; a federalist systemwhich consisted of a central government with the Sapa Inca at itshead, in Cusco, and four provincial governments with strong leaders:Chinchsuyu (NW), Antisuyu (NE), Contisuyu ( SW), and Collasuyu(SE.) Pachacuti is also regarded as the builder of Machu Picchu. Whatsets the Inca’s method of territorial expansion at this time, andperhaps earlier, from other cultures is both intriguing and very clever.They formed a confederation, not an empire, and this point can not beemphasized enough.Empires tend to grow based on the subjugation and destruction ofother groups and nations; not only their political systems and military,but also their belief systems. A confederation is an alliance of groupsand or nations under a central guiding and coordinating authority.Pachacutec sent spies to regions that he wanted to expand into. Thesespies brought back reports on the political organization, militarymight, and wealth of the prospective confederation candidates. Hewould then send messages to the leaders of these lands extolling thebenefits of joining the confederation, offering them presents of luxurygoods such as high quality textiles. Benefits to the candidate landsincluded access to the extensive Inca road system, some 15000 to 25000miles in size, and the goods and services that were within the realm ofthe Inca’s sphere of influence. The benefits to the Inca were access togoods and services that were particular to that region.Most accepted the rule of the Inca, and acquiesced peacefully. It wasonly when a perspective Candidate refused to join the confederationthat military force was used.

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